Last week I started my journey to losing 23 pounds in 23 weeks by Getting Uncomfortable.  Well, I weighed in today and I have to say, I’m pretty happy with the results. After week 1 of getting uncomfortable, I am pleased to report that I lost 4.2 pounds.

I’m Not Going to Get TOO Excited

I do realize that weight loss can be largely attributed to water weight, so I’m not going to get all cocky and full of myself. I’m not going think I’m the total bomb and that I can get this done in half the time or anything. After all, I watched The Biggest Loser, too. Week 1 is a great week—all those changes shock your body into losing weight. Week 2…well that’s the notorious week, the week NO ONE loses weight.

How Am I Getting Uncomfortable?

Still, 4.2 pounds is a victory. A very nice victory. How did I do it? By getting uncomfortable, just like I promised I would. I spent the week killing it in the gym, cutting down my food consumption, and resisting temptation. To be honest, I wasn’t really hungry. Oh sure, the first two days I thought I was going to starve to death. Even though I’m not planning on strict calorie counting for the entire duration of this project, I wanted to count calories for the first few weeks so that I could get an idea of what I was actually eating and what a moderate portion size really looked like.

Wow, Was I Shocked

Turns out, I was consuming between 2,600 and 3,000 calories a day. 2,000 is the recommended daily allowance, however…that can range higher or lower based on your activity level. Since I’m pretty active anyway, I can probably use about 2,400 calories a day. At least that’s what my FitBit says I’m burning. Obviously I realize that’s not gospel truth, but it at least gives me a better idea of my caloric needs. So basically, I was eating about 200-600 more calories a day than I need. Over the course of a month that’s somewhere between a 1.5 pound and 5 pound weight gain!!! No wonder why I was gaining weight so fast. By cutting out 500 calories a day, I can lose 1 pound a week (roughly). Which wasn’t really that difficult once I got past the initial shock of not finishing everything on my plate. (Honestly, I was being a bit of a baby—I truly was eating WAY too much).

How Did I Fill Up and Not Feel Hungry?

I added more veggies to my diet—fiber fills you up as well. I lowered my carb intake. Carbs are my kryptonite—I could eat them all day. And eating lots of carbs makes you want to eat MORE carbs as well. I made a point to eat slower and drink water with my food. I started spreading my calories out—3 snacks a day so I was eating every 3 hours or so. That stabilizes your blood sugar so it’s not spiking all day, making you less likely to grab that sugary snack. Planning also helped me tremendously in week 1 of getting uncomfortable. I made sure I had a snack with me and I ate before I could get too hungry. Hubby mocked me for bringing a banana to my nephew’s birthday party, but guess what? I didn’t reach for those giant cookies that were staring at me. In fact, I was shocked to find that they didn’t even tempt me. I did end up having a drink (or two) on Saturday night, but other than that, I didn’t even touch any processed foods or snack foods. No chocolate, cookies, or ice cream passed these lips. And I truly and honestly did not even want them.

Getting Uncomfortable in the Gym

So week 1 of getting uncomfortable in the gym felt painful and fabulous all at once. I had forgotten how a workout that makes you sweat and feel like you might puke creates that amazing runner’s high that I’ve been missing. The first day that I cranked up the treadmill to 6 mph, I wanted to cry for the first 15 minutes of the workout. Okay, I lie—it was more like the first 28 minutes of the workout. But those last 2 minutes? Holy crap I felt amazing. And once I stopped (and the desire to puke subsided) it was even better. Picking up the weights again was a bit daunting, though. I hate, hate, HATE weight training. I don’t know why, but maybe it’s because I don’t sweat as much and it takes much longer to see results. Plus, I always feel like I’m doing it wrong or something and I don’t want to hurt myself. Running I can do confidently—I’ve been doing it forever. Weights, though—yikes—they terrify me. For the past few years or so, I’ve been arbitrarily throwing in a weight workout here and there. Alright, I lie—I’ve been using the 5 lb weights when I walk on the treadmill. I used to lift 15 lb weights at one point in time. I was totally phoning it in for the last few years, doing the simplest workout I could get away with. This week, I made myself incorporate weights into my workout THREE times. And I used the 8 lbs weight. Not 15 lbs yet, but an improvement from what I’ve done. And boy am I sore. I haven’t felt sore after a workout in ages (other than my foot pain, but you know what I mean).

What’s In Store For Week 2?

More getting uncomfortable. Dialing it up even more in my workouts. Continuing to resist temptation and plan my meals so I am not hungry. Drink more water—I hit my water goal every day this week, but I am hoping to drink just a little bit more to prevent feelings of dehydration and to continue to help me feel full.

And I’m going to cut out all the alcohol this week in attempts to stave off that big fat ZERO pound loss that might be staring up at me from the scale this week in the big, bad Week 2. Are you trying to get healthier and drop a few pounds? Comment and let me know what YOU’RE doing to be successful!